2016

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT

Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge

Annual Performance Report

CFDA Number: 84.412

Pennsylvania 2016

Due: February 28, 2017

U.S. Department of Education

Washington, DC 20202

OMB Number: 1810-0713

Expiration Date: October 31, 2019

Paperwork Burden Statement According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1810-0713. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1810-0713. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20202-6200.

mailto:ICDocketMgr@ed.gov

Annual Performance Report

Section List

General Information

Executive Summary

A(3) Successful State System

B(1) Developing and Adopting a Common, Statewide TQRIS

B(2) Promoting Participation in the TQRIS

B(3) Rating and Monitoring Early Learning and Development Programs

B(4) Promoting Access to High-Quality Early Learning and Development Programs for Children with High Needs

B(5) Validating the Effectiveness of the State TQRIS

C(1) Early Learning and Development Standards

C(2) Comprehensive Assessment Systems

C(3) Health Promotion

C(4) Engaging and Supporting Families

D(1) Workforce Knowledge and Competency Framework and Progression of Credentials

D(2) Supporting Early Childhood Educators in Improving their Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

E(1) Understanding the Status of Children’s Learning and Development at Kindergarten Entry

E(2) Early Learning Data Systems

A(1) Background Data Tables

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Performance Report: Cover Sheet

General Information 1. PR/Award#: S412A130040

2. Grantee Name Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Governor's Office

3. Grantee Address 225 Main Capitol Building

City: Harrisburg

State: Pennsylvania Zip: 17120

4. Project Director Name: Susan Polojac

Title: Director, Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge

Phone #: (717) 265-8911 Ext.: Fax #: (717) 787-1529

Email: spolojac@pa.gov

Reporting Period Information

5. Reporting Period: From: 01/01/2016 To: 12/31/2016

Indirect Cost Information

6. Indirect Costs

Yes Noa. Are you claiming indirect costs under this grant?

Yes Nob. If yes, do you have an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement(s) approved by the Federal Government?

c. If yes, provide the following information:

Period Covered by the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement(s): From: To:

Approving Federal agency: Other Specify other:ED HHS

(Submit current indirect cost rate agreement with this report.)

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mailto:spolojac@pa.gov

Executive Summary For the reporting year, please provide a summary of your State’s (1) accomplishments, (2) lessons learned, (3) challenges, and (4) strategies you will implement to address those challenges.

Developing a State System

Accomplishments

Community Innovation Zones

• Several CIZs have made improvements in their relationships along the P-3 continuum. Grantees accomplished goals such as curriculum alignment between early learning and school district programs, increasing on-time kindergarten registration through coordinated efforts, and the creation of early learning councils with stakeholder representation across the P-3 continuum.

• In 2016, Pennsylvania focused on building the sustainability of these successful local projects by making promising practices accessible statewide and building the capacity of the CIZ collaborations to obtain resources to continue work after the grant period ends.

• The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) approached sustainability through the lens of focusing on the process of systems and adult behavior change, building capacity at the local level, and developing statewide collaborations. Another sustainability effort OCDEL has continued to develop is the integration of the CIZ into Pennsylvania's broader RTT-ELC projects, various office-wide initiatives, as well as state and national efforts.

• Two P-3 networking workshops for nearly 200 attendees. The two statewide networking meetings provided a statewide collaborative learning exchange. The two-day events allowed participants to build connections across geography and role and begin to appreciate others' experience and their value as potential resources.

• Interim results of the family engagement study to document best family engagement strategies of 12 CIZs.

• Leveraging the local successes of the CIZ to support OCDEL's priorities such as gathering feedback on Keystone STARS Re-visioning, recruiting schools to implement the Kindergarten Entry Inventory and participate in the Governor's Institutes.

• Helping CIZs effectively tell their story to local leaders through a Pecha Kucha Approach, social media strategies and/or StoryCorps inspired stories.

Developing and expanding a statewide Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (TQRIS)

Accomplishments

• Pennsylvania made significant progress towards re-visioning its TQRIS, Keystone STARS. Pennsylvania engaged more than 2,000 stakeholders in its Keystone STARS Re-visioning work, which led to new Core Values, logic model and framework to refine its structure, indicators, monitoring, and supports to increase access to high-quality early learning. The new Keystone STARS system will launch for the 2017-18 state fiscal year.

• Pennsylvania launched its re-visioning process in February 2016 with the Keystone STARS Think Tank. The Keystone STARS Think Tank is a diverse group of 53 stakeholders chosen by an OCDEL selection team based on rigorous criteria to reflect geographic, racial, gender, and professional diversity. The Think Tank, with feedback from more than 2,400 stakeholders, developed new Core Values to act as the framework for Keystone STARS Re-visioning.

• Using these Core Values, the Think Tank developed a logic model to build supply of quality diverse early learning programs; increase family access to quality programs; build and maintain

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a qualified workforce; empower program leadership; integrate data and management systems; create a responsive, strengths-based and individualized technical assistance/coaching system; and create a Keystone STARS administrative system that is consistent in quality and responsive to providers and the technical assistance/coaching system.

Rural recruitment and support for Friend/Neighbor providers

• As part of Pennsylvania's Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Grant (RTT-ELC), OCDEL and its regional partners developed a Start Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring program for friend/neighbor and regulated child care programs to join Keystone STARS. Providers receive one-on-one support and a peer mentor every step through the process. Peer Mentors may be a current director or family owner-operator at of a program with a STAR 2, 3 or 4 rating. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) identified 33 of the highest risk rural counties to conduct recruitment efforts. Pennsylvania has recruited providers in nearly every targeted county to participate in the program.

• In partnership with Child Care Certification, Child Care Information Services (CCIS) agencies and Regional Keys, Pennsylvania expanded its Peer Mentoring Start Up Technical Assistance program to support friend/neighbor providers.

• As part of the reauthorized Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Pennsylvania requires all non-related child care providers receiving child care subsidy to become certified through the Department of Human Services (DHS), effective November 1, 2016. Pennsylvania has leveraged its RTT-ELC grant to conduct outreach and provide effective supports to friend/ neighbor providers interested in becoming DHS-certified and participating in Keystone STARS.

• By the end of 2016, there were 125 or 62.5 % of our targeted number of 200 providers who reside in targeted Rural Recruitment counties participating in Keystone STARS.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

• OCDEL and its regional contractors have recruited providers in each of the targeted rural counties except Forest County. We are focusing on additional community and provider outreach in this county. Coined for its heavily forested areas, Forest County is the third least populous county in Pennsylvania.

Early Learning Standards

Accomplishments

• Participation in the Pre-natal-3rd Grade Governor's Institutes, “P-3 Collaboration: WorkingTogether for Student Success,” increased by 40 percent. Eighty-six teams of school district, early childhood professionals, higher education and other representatives attended the four Institutes in Pocono Manor, Erie, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.

• The Institutes focus on P-3 alignment strategies, building collaborative partnerships, implementing standards effectively with young children (English language arts, math, student interpersonal skills, and approaches to learning), and science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM). Based on feedback from previous Institutes, more time and facilitation was added in for teams to network and develop practical strategies they could implement in their communities.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

• It was noted that lack of funding at the local level has proven to be a barrier in the implementation of the new P-3 strategies learned at the institutes. In order to better support the implementation the team action plans, Pennsylvania offered $4,000 prototype mini-grants to all teams attending any of the Institutes since 2014.

• Teams may use the stipend to explore systems change strategies (e.g. learning journeys,

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immersion experiences, multi-stakeholder meetings) and/or strategies detailed within the Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating PreK- 3rd Grade Approaches. Sixty-seven teams applied for mini-grants as of December 1, 2016.

Comprehensive Assessment Systems

Accomplishments:

Resource and Referral

• Pennsylvania leveraged its RTT-ELC grant to meet new CCDBG requirements for a consumer website by enhancing the Pennsylvania's Promise for Children (PA Promise) website. An evaluation of the CONNECT helpline and available resources for families found that access to Pennsylvania's information is scattered and disjointed. Families need to contact multiple organizations and be well-versed in the system to access the services they need. For example, families call the CONNECT helpline to access Early Intervention, but call the Child Care Works hotline for information on child care subsidy. It was recommended to expand the CONNECT helpline to be able to refer families to other early learning programs and create a quality consumer-friendly website.

• Based on a content audit by Thoughtform, Inc., the PA Promise website contained high-quality content. Pennsylvania decided to expand the existing PA Promise website to meet RTT-ELC and CCDBG grant requirements and better serve families. The new website will display the CONNECT helpline prominently on each page, provide easy to understand information on child development and quality early learning programs, and include photos of real Pennsylvania families. The website is scheduled to launch in summer 2017.

Quality training and supports on child assessment

• Upon review, Pennsylvania discovered that there were few professional development options for providers to effectively use various assessments. Because these assessments are critical to a high-quality program, Pennsylvania invested RTT-ELC funds to develop quality tools and professional development around the basics of assessment. Pennsylvania created new resources for professionals: Guiding Principles on Early Childhood Assessment for Practitioners and Educators: Birth to Age 8, which includes informational sheets on the basics of assessment.

• The framework, Guiding Principles on Early Childhood Assessment for Practitioners and Educators: Birth to Age 8, informed the current creation of a new asynchronous course which will help practitioners gain knowledge about the types of assessments and uses.

Early Learning Outcomes Reporting Strategy

• There has been a challenge with complexity of the Pennsylvania's current outcomes reporting process, the reliability of the outcomes reported, and the integrity of information that could be provided back to providers and policy makers for decision-making purposes. OCDEL engaged stakeholders to understand the challenges with outcomes reporting in general, and specifically with the outcomes reporting strategy. A research council consisting of Pennsylvania scholars with expertise in child development, assessment and outcomes reporting was established for the purpose of further unpacking Pennsylvania's view on outcomes reporting and improving the Early Learning Outcomes Reporting (ELOR) strategy. OCDEL will use its recommendations to inform next steps.

Engaging and Supporting Families

Accomplishments:

Pennsylvania expanded its supports to CIZs and other organizations in the state to educate and engage families:

• Pennsylvania provided five Community Innovation Zones training on implementing the Be Strong Page 6 of 132

Parent Café approach in their communities. The purpose of Be Strong Parent Café is to build the protective factors by teaching parents about them through individual deep self-reflection and peer-to-peer learning. The goal is to expand training to other communities in 2017.

• Pennsylvania nearly doubled attendance to more than 500 professionals and families at its third annual Family Engagement Conference by offering two regional options. The keynote speaker, Dr. Maria Paredes, highlighted data sharing and embedding family engagement across curriculum, instruction and assessment plans.

• During a five-week digital advertising campaign for the Early Learning GPS, Pennsylvania had double the industry average impressions and clickthroughs, and quadrupled the number of new weekly accounts.

Supporting the Early Childhood Workforce

Accomplishments:

• In July 2016, the Technical Assistance Revisioning Steering Committee and more than 65 stakeholders issued recommendations for refining the technical assistance/quality improvement system in Pennsylvania for consideration as part of Keystone STARS Re-visioning. Recommendations include building a climate of continuous quality improvement (CQI); building leadership capacity; creating a Technical Assistance (TA) career pathway; building a consistent cross-sector and cross-regional TA Framework; and strengthening and streamlining feedback loops.

• As a result of Round 1 mini-grants to institutions of higher education (IHE) to align their college courses with the Core Knowledge Competencies (CKC), 220 courses at 18 two and four - year IHEs were aligned. Seven IHEs received Round 2 mini-grants in 2016 to align an additional 80 courses.

• Pennsylvania developed a framework for a Level 1 Infant/Toddler credential in June 2016. As of a result of the recommendations surrounding credentials, a new goal was set by Pennsylvania to provide credit-bearing coursework through its professional development system. We will be building coursework utilizing the competencies and providing credits with an agreement with an IHE partner.

• In 2016, in response to stakeholder feedback, Pennsylvania focused on improving communications and the usability of the Professional Development (PD) Registry. In July 2016, a new user interface launched, improving the look and functionality of the registry. Pennsylvania created flyers and tip sheets, such as an “Introduction Guide for the PD Registry,” for instructors and certification representatives to give out to those providers who are new or struggling with the registry, for distribution in the field for easier usability. Staff have actively engaged stakeholders to help educate and listen to what users have to say about the site. Effective communications and customer service will continue to be a priority of the steering committee to insure that the site works best for all those who use it.

• The five on-line core series courses for the Environment Rating Scales have seen marked increases in enrollments since going live in late 2015. (School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale-Update (SACERS-U); Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R); Infant-Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R); Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale-Revised (FCCERS-R); and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, 3rd Edition (ECERS-3) ) Over 6,200 individuals have enrolled in the course since January of 2016. An additional course, a Spanish version of the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale-Revised, is in the process of being customized for Pennsylvania to provide support to the growing population of Spanish speaking programs entering the QRIS.

• More than 1,110 individuals accessed Rising STARS Tuition Assistance financial aid in 2015-16. Several enhancements streamlined the application process for users.

Understanding the Status of Children's Learning and Development at Kindergarten Entry

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Accomplishments:

Use of Pennsylvania's Kindergarten Entry Inventory (KEI) continued to expand in 2016. Communication with schools and teachers implementing the KEI increased with a monthly e-newsletter to approximately 2,000 teachers and administrators.

Highlights of Phase 1 of the external validation study using 2014 and 2015 data found that:

• The KEI measures up to three distinct school readiness dimensions - (1) Cognitive competencies, (2) Control and Engagement competencies, and (3) Communication competencies.

• The KEI rating scale functions as expected.

• Use of the KEI with dual-language learners or children with special needs is not supported at this time.

• The 2015 KEI scores are reliable for teachers to use to differentiate the abilities of children who do not receive special services at the start of kindergarten and to share this information with parents. Also, the scores were found to be reliable for use to distinguish the average school readiness of kindergarten classrooms. However, there is no evidence at this time to support the use of the KEI to differentiate schools within a district or to differentiate the average school readiness of school districts.

Based on the study, KEI scores can be used at the child or classroom level to differentiate school readiness, but not at a more aggregate level across schools, districts, and communities or statewide.

Challenges and Lessons Learned:

• Reflection on Phase 1 findings necessitated revisiting the intended purposes of the KEI. Although the state team was excited that the KEI showed reliability for instructional decision-making, for family engagement in child learning, and for the school level readiness comparisons, the team was discouraged that the KEI was not showing reliability as a tool for making broader comparisons. OCDEL is aware that state, district, and community levels are hungry for consistent “readiness” data that can provide reliable comparisons for decision making. In response to the findings of Phase 1, OCDEL took several steps in Year 3 to ensure the KEI was not being utilized for purposes for which it had not been validated, and to address the real need for comparable information.

Early Learning Data systems

Accomplishments:

A revamped early learning program search website, www.findchildcare.pa.gov launched. The new site includes more user-friendly, intuitive user experience with simple and advanced search capabilities. After the launch, there was a 1,000 percent increase between May and July in the number of unique visitors who performed searches on the site.

• Enhancements to Provider Self-Service so that child care providers receiving child care subsidy can more easily submit attendance, invoices, and send/receive correspondence online. Where before programs may have to submit attendance forms or invoices to each Child Care Information Services (CCIS) agency serving children in their program, they can now submit one and it is electronically distributed to the appropriate agency.

• Enhanced current data systems to meet new Child Care and Development Block Grant requirements.

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Successful State Systems

Aligning and coordinating early learning and development across the State (Section A(3) of Application)

Governance Structure Please provide any relevant information and updates related to the governance structure for the RTT-ELC State Plan (specifically, please include information on the organizational structure for managing the grant, and the governance-related roles and responsibilities of the Lead Agency, State Advisory Council, and Participating State Agencies).

Pennsylvania's Early Learning and Development governance structure includes multiple state agencies that work together to facilitate interagency coordination, streamline decision-making, effectively allocate resources, and create long-term sustainability. The participating state agencies that form the Early Learning and Development governance structure are:

State-level governance

• The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). OCDEL is a dual deputate of the Departments of Education and Human Services. The latter serves as the lead agency for the RTT-ELC grant. The Director of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) reports directly to the Deputy Secretary of OCDEL.

• The RTT-ELC director is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the grant and its associated projects, responsible for the development and directing the policy analysis for early childhood initiatives to raise quality in early childhood education achievement across Pennsylvania, and for ensuring that the Departments of Education and Human Services build capacity for continued oversight after the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grant is expended. The RTT-ELC director participates in executive staff meetings and works collaboratively with all OCDEL bureau directors.

• The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), including: 1) OCDEL; 2) the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (includes private academic licensed nursery schools and the Homeless Education, Migrant Education, English Language Learners, Special Education and Education Leading to Employment and Career Training Programs), 3) the Office of Administration (including the Food and Nutrition Program), 4) the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, 5) the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education (including the Family Literacy program), 6) Information Technology staff, 7) school district pre-K programs, 8) programs funded by Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 9) PDE-designated attorneys from the Office of General Counsel; and 10) PDE directors from the Offices of Policy, Legislative Affairs, and Press and Communications.

• The Department of Human Services (DHS), including: 1) OCDEL; 2) the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; 3) the Office of Children, Youth and Families; 4) the Office of Developmental Programs - services for individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism; 5) the Office of Income Maintenance - eligibility for programs including TANF, SNAP, home heating assistance, Medicaid, employment and training services, child support, and County Assistance Offices which determine eligibility for child care services for TANF families; 6) Office of Medical Assistance Programs; 7) the Office of Administration`s Bureau of Information Systems; 8) DHS-designated attorneys from the Office of General Counsel; and 10) DHS Directors from the Offices of Policy, Legislative Affairs, Press and Communications.

• The Department of Health, including : 1) the Office of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Title V Maternal and Child Health Service Block Grant Programs, and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; and 2) the Office of Public Health and Preparedness, including public health centers.

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• Commissions and Councils, including: 1) the Pennsylvania Early Learning Council; 2) the Early Learning Investment Commission; 3) the State Interagency Coordinating Council; and 3) the Young Child Wellness Council. Each of these entities provides guidance and feedback to OCDEL on its policies and practices. Each receives the opportunity to discuss the progress of the grant and recommendations for implementation throughout the grant period through regular meetings and conference calls when appropriate.

Regional governance and administration

The Pennsylvania Key and five Regional Keys, established in 2005, work with OCDEL to provide state and regional leadership in the development of an integrated and coordinated system of program quality improvements and professional development supports for early childhood education. The Early Learning Keys to Quality System coordinates professional development, access to higher education, Keystone STARS designations, community collaborations, and technical assistance. The PA Key monitors and provides targeted technical assistance to the Early Childhood Community Innovation Zones described below.

Pennsylvania's Early Intervention (EI) system is supported through the state-of-the-art, nationally recognized technical assistance program, Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA). Through a network of 24 EITA consultants, EITA provides professional development to Early Intervention providers; however, their trainings are also open to other early learning and development programs and families.

Local Governance - Early Childhood Education Community Innovation Zones

Pennsylvania's approach is a strategy to reach out, community by community, to serve and support the children most at risk for school failure and make successful strategies available statewide. Pennsylvania is offering targeted support to 50 high needs communities through enhanced technical assistance and a competitive grant opportunity. Grants are making it possible for communities to assess their challenges to helping children be successful in school, receive targeted technical assistance and implement strategies that address identified challenges.

Supporting sustainability of CIZ collaborations and successes

In 2016, OCDEL intentionally focused on building sustainability of the CIZs through specific professional development and technical assistance opportunities. OCDEL approached sustainability through the lens of focusing on the process of systems and adult behavior change, building capacity at the local level, and developing statewide collaborations. Another sustainability effort OCDEL has continued to develop is the integration of the CIZ into Pennsylvania's broader RTT-ELC projects, various office-wide initiatives, as well as state and national efforts.

P-3 Networking Workshops

In 2016, OCDEL partnered with Nancy Aronson Consulting, a group with expertise in systems change, to develop opportunities for generative thinking that leads to more impactful ideas and increases the likelihood of constructive, coherent action. Two statewide networking meetings provided a statewide collaborative learning exchange. The two-day events allowed participants to build connections across geography and role and begin to appreciate others' experience and their value as potential resources. The first meeting in May had 43 attendees. Attendance almost tripled for the November session with 117 participants.

The P-3 Networking Meeting helped to create new connections that will impact regions, cities, families, and children in a positive and long-lasting way. - Catherine S.

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This meeting was really helpful to our team. It helped clarify our focus and define our path.

- Lisa B.

Capturing promising family engagement practices that could be replicated statewide

OCDEL also partnered with School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to conduct a family engagement implementation study to understand the innovative, effective, and successful family engagement work that grantees are implementing in their respective communities, in order to support families of children prenatal to 3rd grade. Twelve CIZ grantees were selected to participate in the study due to their diversity in community setting, geographic region, lead agency, and grant implementation phase. Interim findings reflect an analysis of data collected in the spring of 2016 via interviews, review of grantee documents, and narratives of family engagement written by grantees.

The interim findings focus on the process of implementation and specific implementation strategies for CIZ and family engagement. Some highlights include:

• Grantees benefit from opportunities to discuss their experiences and share best practices with other CIZ grantees.

• Each project has evolved as grantees identified community needs, and the flexibility to be responsive to local context has been crucial for success.

• Family engagement and CIZ specialists are effective providers of individualized support, addressing questions and providing on-site support and feedback.

• The use of social media and technology (such as text messages) has been a particularly effective method of communication with families.

• Grantees are most successful when they are sensitive to families' varying needs, such as family circumstances and living situations, beliefs and preferences about education, and schedules and competing demands.

• The importance of using a strengths-based, culturally competent approach in partnering with families was identified, but additional development and resources is needed to do this successfully.

Leveraging CIZs to promote OCDEL priorities

In addition to customized professional development offerings for the CIZ, OCDEL also continued to integrate grantees into other RTT-ELC projects. Several CIZs continue to support three key projects: PA Learning Standards for Early Childhood (ELS); the Kindergarten Entry Inventory (KEI); and the Governor's Institute. The CIZ are not only required to use the tools and participate in the Institute, they are integral in providing feedback, sharing resources, and collaborating with other agencies and schools in their communities. Additionally, the CIZ have been tapped to help disseminate information and participate in refining and expanding Keystone STARS; Pennsylvania's TQRIS system. While not a primary focus of CIZ efforts in 2016, grantees have been integral in supporting OCDEL locally through listening tours, policy summits, and general distribution of information on topics such as the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSEA), and suspension and expulsion policy development.

Through targeted professional development and intention coordination of efforts, the CIZ have made great strides in local efforts toward developing strong relationships between early learning programs and school districts to build P-3 alignment; increasing family supports and engagement; and strengthening the network and coordination of community organizations serving children and families with young children all with the goal of reducing the achievement gap by third grade. Additionally, through locally designed and delivered efforts, CIZ have made marked progress in individual communities.

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Several CIZ have made improvements in their relationships along the P-3 continuum. Grantees accomplished goals such as curriculum alignment between early learning and school district programs, increasing on time kindergarten registration through coordinated efforts, and creating early learning councils with stakeholder representation across the P-3 continuum.

We are very grateful for receiving this grant. This has allowed us to start the conversations with Head Start, ABC Kiddie Kampus and our district. In the past, I don't think as a district we had an

understanding of what happened in these programs. The conversation has now begun.

- Pittston Area School District CIZ - Luzerne County

In addition to P-3 coordination, increasing family supports and engagement continued to be a targeted effort of the CIZ. Many varied innovative efforts were implemented and refined. Many grantees experimented with social media, while others focused on developing family leadership and advocacy skills. Some common challenges grantees faced were in reaching young parents (18-26) and in engaging fathers. To face this challenge, grantees used parent cafés, parent to parent outreach, and partnering with statewide fatherhood initiatives.

We have adjusted our approach over time based on feedback and self-evaluation. We have worked on welcoming parents and families in to play. In the beginning we were trying to give information and

upon reflection adjusted our approach to ask questions to let the caregiver tell us what they need, and tailor information to their specific reply.

- Meadville Children's Center CIZ - Crawford County

Strengthening the network and coordination of community organizations that serve children and families with young children was another overarching goal of the CIZ. Grantees focused on engaging “unlikely partners” in their local efforts. Some unusual community based partners include a barber shop, a transportation advocate, a prison administrator, an internet provider, and a grocery store. Grantees reported increased coordination of local efforts and more paths to sustainability through these partnerships.

The formation of the West Ward Collective Impact Team was a success, with so many people from the community expressing interest! We also saw the beginnings of joint planning for some activities, which

I expect to grow in Year 2.

- Family Connections of Easton CIZ - Northampton County

Effectively telling the CIZ story to build sustainability

In order for a CIZ to access new resources to sustain their work, they need to be able to effectively tell their story to community leaders. OCDEL is partnering with School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to support CIZ grantees in collecting best and promising practices and to facilitate sharing this information with other communities throughout the state. Often, it is the on-the-ground stories of challenges and successes that provide the best and most compelling examples of how to implement effective reforms that can change the trajectory for young children and families. SRC will work alongside CIZ grantees to support efforts to share their stories of innovation. Specific strategies were shared and ongoing technical assistance was offered to all 50 CIZs.

• Social Media Strategies: SRC will facilitate a discussion with grantees about the current use of social media to communicate with their stakeholders.

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• Pecha Kucha Approach: SRC will work alongside grantees to workshop the development of Pecha-Kuchas for participating grantees.

• StoryCorps-Inspired Interviews: SRC will develop and manage a StoryCorps-inspired area at the meeting to encourage participants to record experiences and successes in implementing CIZ grants.

OCDEL's Community Innovation Zone goals for 2017 are to continue to build local capacity to develop strong and lasting networks that contribute to sustainability, while simultaneously growing the skills and resources of the state team to best support communities after the term of the grant. Focused efforts to connect local work to broader office, state, and national initiatives will also be a goal of 2017.

Stakeholder Involvement Describe State progress in involving representatives from Participating Programs, Early Childhood Educators or their representatives, parents and families, including parents and families of Children with High Needs, and other key stakeholders in the implementation of the activities carried out under the grant.

OCDEL serves as the lead agency for the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant with oversight from the Governor's Office and the Secretaries of the Departments of Education and Human Services. OCDEL also involves the key stakeholder groups in the management of RTT-ELC grant-funded activities on an ongoing basis.

The Pennsylvania Early Learning Council (ELC), established by executive order in 2008, is a 50-member council of gubernatorial appointees who serve for a three-year term. The role of the council is to advise OCDEL on recommendations on early learning policies and practices. The ELC meets face-toface a minimum of three times per year and via conference call when necessary as a vehicle to have robust discussion and input related to OCDEL's strategic planning and implementation efforts. ELC members represent a broad array of stakeholders, including: parents (specifically parents of children with high needs); early learning and development organizations (the Pennsylvania Head Start Association, Early Intervention programs, child care programs, Child Care Works, and the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts program); other education organizations (the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pennsylvania school districts); state agencies (the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services); and representatives from private businesses, foundations, and community-based organizations. The ELC also meets regularly with the State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC), which is described below.

The RTT-ELC director reports to the Early Learning Council at their regular meetings and will continue to report progress throughout the RTT-ELC grant duration. Because the OCDEL Deputy Secretary, RTTELC director, and representatives from other participating state agencies serve on the council, the Early Learning Council plays a significant role in implementing the state's RTT-ELC plan. Continuous feedback and recommendations are solicited from members on Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge activities.

OCDEL serves as the lead agency for the RTT-ELC grant with oversight from the Governor's Office and the Secretaries of the Departments of Education and Human Services. OCDEL also involves key stakeholder groups in the management of the RTT-ELC grant-funded activities on an on-going basis.

The State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) is a 19-member group of gubernatorial appointees comprised of the parents of children who are or have participated in Early Intervention services; representatives from the Pennsylvania Departments of Education, Health, and Human Services; and

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representatives from higher education, school districts, and Intermediate Unit providers. The SICC, which meets six times per year, is convened by federal statute. Its mission is to ensure that a comprehensive delivery system of integrated Early Intervention programs and services is available in Pennsylvania for all eligible infants, toddlers, and young children and their families.

This group has experience with making recommendations about children with developmental delays and disabilities and will be helpful in this arena. The SICC also has a workgroup called the Committee for Stakeholder Engagement (CSE), which focuses on the review of data and specifically how it impacts the state's birth-5 EI system. Feedback is solicited from SICC members and this feedback is included in RTT-ELC activities as appropriate. The RTT-ELC director reports quarterly to the SICC and will continue to report progress to the SICC.

The Early Learning Investment Commission (ELIC), established by executive order in 2008, is a group of 69 gubernatorial appointees representing every major industry in Pennsylvania. The commission works to improve tomorrow's economy through support for smart policy investments in today's young children. Since its founding, commissioners have informed tens of thousands of business and civic leaders about the critical importance of preparing all children with the knowledge and skills required for success in the 21st century and have been effective policy and budget advocates with the General Assembly. The commission supports regional business leaders groups across Pennsylvania that not only raise awareness about the benefits of quality early childhood education, but also contribute to building systems that support it.

The commission hosts two state wide events per year at the state capitol in the spring and autumn, and numerous events with businesses, civic leaders and policy makers in local communities throughout the year. The group receives updates from the OCDEL deputy secretary, provides feedback on strategies to best engage the business community, and makes recommendations about expanding high quality early learning programs.

Pennsylvania Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Children's Health) Partnership: PA Project LAUNCH has completed grant year two and continues to work toward the goal of a coordinated and comprehensive plan to promote the wellness of young children, prenatal to eight years old. Project LAUNCH had representation at all of the regional 2016 Governor's Institutes and provided support to the community teams during the resource networking session related to how they might infuse Project LAUNCH core strategies into their Prenatal to 3rd Grade Alignment plan. Additionally, Project LAUNCH continues to support the public awareness of the Early Learning GPS, a RTT-ELC activity. Several OCDEL representatives are cross-represented on the Project LAUNCH and RTT-ELC grants. In September, the Pennsylvania Project LAUNCH Partnership purchased the Competency Guidelines for Endorsement in Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health®, developed by the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH). The implementation process will be a collaborative effort between PA Project LAUNCH and PA-AIMH and will be “launched” in March 2017. Pennsylvania has joined 25 US states and one international territory in the movement toward the promotion of infant mental health principles and practices, influenced in PA greatly by the recommendations of the Early Childhood Mental Health Advisory Committee (2009) who indicated PA should, “adopt and promote a set of early childhood mental health competencies for all professionals and across all levels of service provision for families with children from conception through age five.”

This strategy has linkages to the RTT-ELC work related to workforce development. An endorsement in infant/early mental health (I/ECMH) is a verifiable process that supports the development and acknowledgment of infant and early childhood professionals, within a framework that recognizes knowledge, training, and criteria for best practice standards. It is not a license or certification, but

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instead is an overlay onto a person's professional credentials which recognizes achievement of competence in the area of I/ECMH.

Proposed Legislation, Policies, or Executive Orders Describe any changes or proposed changes to state legislation, budgets, policies, executive orders and the like that had or will have an impact on the RTT-ELC grant. Describe the expected impact and any anticipated changes to the RTT-ELC State Plan as a result.

Governor Tom Wolf firmly supports expanded funding for early childhood education in Pennsylvania. In the 2016 - 2017 budget proposed to the General Assembly in February, Governor Wolf stated “There are two paths we can take: we can fix our deficit and invest in education to move Pennsylvania forward or we can continue to embrace the failed status quo and cut $1 billion from education funding, cut hundreds of millions of dollars to essential social services and continue to stifle the commonwealth's economic growth," said Governor Wolf. "If we do not act to end the era of deficit denial, one time fixes and budget gimmicks, the consequences will be billions of dollars in property tax hikes for Pennsylvanians and cuts to our schools and critical services for women, children, and seniors."

The proposed budget would provide early childhood education:

• $9 million increased investment to serve approximately 1,700 additional families in evidence based home visiting;

• $10 million increased investment in Child Care Works to serve approximately 1,800 additional children from the Child Care Works waiting list;

• maintained investment in Keystone STARS to serve approximately 1,000 additional children;

• $65 million increased investment in Pre-K Counts to serve at least 7,400 additional children;

• $10 million increased investment in Head Start Supplemental to serve at least 1,030 additional children; and

• $11 million increased investment in Preschool Early Intervention to serve approximately 1,100 additional children.

Child Care Development Block Grant Reauthorization In November 2014, the Child Care Development Fund and Block Grant was reauthorized. During 2015, every OCDEL bureau participated in developing the first draft of Pennsylvania's state plan for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). A significant portion of OCDEL's funding comes from the CCDBG, and the state plan touches every bureau in the office including family-friendly policies for Child Care Works (CCW) subsidy; equal access to child care for at-risk children; improving enforcement of child care regulations through increased inspections; recruiting and retaining a qualified and effective child care workforce; and supporting continuous quality improvement. The plan was submitted to the federal Office of Child Care in March 2016 and was approved.

OCDEL reached out to family child care homes and friend/neighbor caregivers to help them with the upcoming changes as a result of reauthorization. Regional meetings occurred among certification, Child Care Information Services (CCIS) agencies, Keystone STARS, Regional Keys, and Early Intervention (EI) partners were held. Regional Keys and CCIS agencies scheduled dozens of providers meetings across the state to discuss the upcoming changes and the steps providers can do to prepare. Resources are available for providers on the Department of Human Services website. As of November 1, 2016, all families participating in the subsidized child care program have transitioned to use of either regulated care or a related caregiver to ensure Pennsylvania is in full compliance with the health and safety requirements

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With the passage of the Federal Child Care Final Rule in September 2016, OCDEL is poised to amend the state's regulations for health and safety in child care programs and the regulations for the subsidized child care program. These are opportunities to further improve high quality, seamless child care experiences for our most vulnerable children. The target date for the update regulations is spring of 2018.

There are several areas of the RTT-ELC grant where full compliance with the new CCDBG regulations will reflect and impact the grant. OCDEL has identified the following priorities and impacts:

• Project 3 - Keystone STARS: CCDBG reauthorization has changed professional development preservice and ongoing professional development requirements for child care providers; inspection of neighbor care; and increases the set aside of funds over time to enhance infant toddler services. It also links into the work on Keystone STARS revisions related to developing a strategy to improve and enhance parent communications about the TQRIS, developmental screening, child development and children's social emotional health. OCDEL and its business partners continue to develop opportunities for providers to access pre-service professional development in a way that is easy for them. In 2016, OCDEL developed online modules that providers could access on-demand for the preservice requirements for health and safety as well as Child Care Provider Orientation Part I.

• Project 5 - Comprehensive Assessment Systems Resource & Referral: Initially, the goal of this work was to expand the Early Intervention resource and referral system, which is currently an 800 number, to include a web-based presence. However, the timeliness of the CCDBG reauthorization and the requirement to provide a website for consumer education created the opportunity to merge these two efforts. The outcome of this merger will be an easily accessible, easy to navigate “one-stop shop” primarily designed for families to access information about a range of topics from supporting their child's growth and development to various forms of assistance that families may need to reach that goal.

OCDEL continues the process of assessing integration opportunities for program and service delivery with the goal of building an integrated licensing, a program monitoring and a quality improvement system modeled after other states; streamlining data tracking; and developing an integrated payment model for providers serving children

Expulsion and Suspension from Early Childhood Programs Inclusion in Early Childhood Programs To continue suspension and expulsion efforts previously made, in 2016, OCDEL hosted one statewide and five regional Policy Forums to review two draft announcements; “Reduction of Expulsion and Suspension in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania and “Inclusion of All Children in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania”. The statewide Policy Forum had 145 participants from a range of early childhood programs and the regional Policy Forums had over 400 total participants. Over 2,700 comments on the two announcements were cataloged and combined with over 840 comments previously received during the public comment period for the “Reduction of Expulsion and Suspension in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania” announcement. The intent is to release both of these announcements as a package in January 2017 for a final public comment period prior to July 1, 2017 implementation. Additional guidelines and professional development are being designed based on the needs identified during the Policy Forums.

Young Children and their Families Experiencing Homelessness Recently,Pennsylvania Act 143 updated Act 212 (Early Intervention Services System Act of 1990) by adding an additional at-risk tracking category for infants/toddlers experiencing homelessness. As a result of these updates, the advocacy community met with OCDEL to discuss additional trainings for shelter staff and property managers that work with children and families experiencing homelessness and/or poverty.

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OCDEL, along with Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) and the PA Key, designed a statewide training program to address needs in the community. OCDEL met with the Department of Education's Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program (ECYEH) and collaborated to determine the locations of these trainings. The first roll-out was held in the eight regions of the ECYEH program as coordinated through OCDEL, PA Key, Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA), Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) statewide coordinator, PDE's regional coordinators, and PDE's technical assistance arm, the Center for School and Communities. The Bureau of Early Learning

During year three, OCDEL continued to present at statewide conferences and meetings that included: • Pennsylvania's Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program (ECYEH)

statewide conference • Department of Human Services Housing Coordinator's work group • PA Key's Higher Education webinar • Department of Community and Economic Development Steering Committee, • Homeless Education Task Force • OCDEL All Staff Meeting • Statewide Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) • Welcoming All Children subcommittee • PA Housing and Finance Agency (PHFA) • PennDel AHMA (PA/Delaware Affordable Housing Management Association).

OCDEL continues to be the early childhood representative on the Department of Human Services Housing Coordinator's work group and the Department of Community and Economic Development's (DCED) Steering Committee.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Developed and passed with strong, bipartisan agreement, ESSA replaces the No Child Left Behind Act and provides significant flexibility around federal education policy by shifting authority back to states and communities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is committed to collaborating with stakeholders -including educators, policymakers, and community members throughout the commonwealth to ensure coherent and thoughtful state-level implementation of ESSA.

ESSA requires that states develop and submit a state plan to the U.S. Department of Education. To ensure that the Pennsylvania State Plan is rooted in the day-to-day needs of educators, students, and communities, PDE designed a stakeholder engagement process that relies on participation from a group of diverse thought leaders and practitioners. OCDEL has partnered with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to plan a series of stakeholder sessions and work group meetings designed to explore four key areas of the new federal law: Assessment, Accountability, Educator Certification, and Educator Evaluation.

OCDEL is an essential partner in developing the Pennsylvania ESSA plan to assure that early childhood is integrated into the plan seamlessly. OCDEL staff collaborated with the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center at West Ed, along with Maryland Department of Education, Office of State Superintendents in Washington DC, and Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes National Institute for Early Education Research (CEELO) to address strategies of early childhood integration in to the plan.

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Pennsylvania will submit the written plan by the September 18, 2017 due date.

Participating State Agencies Describe any changes in participation and commitment by any of the Participating State Agencies in the State Plan.

None

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High-Quality, Accountable Programs Developing and adopting a common, statewide Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (TQRIS) (Section B(1) of Application). During this reporting year of RTT-ELC implementation, has the State made progress in developing or revising a TQRIS that is based on a statewide set of tiered Program Standards?

If yes, these standards currently apply to (please check all that apply):

State-funded preschool programs

Early Head Start and Head Start programs

Early Learning and Development programs funded under section 619 of part B of IDEA and part C of IDEA

Early Learning and Development Programs funded under Title I of ESEA

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔ Early Learning and Development Programs receiving funds from the State's CCDF program:

Center-based

Family Child Care

If yes, these standards currently apply to (please check all that apply):

Early Learning and Development Standards

A Comprehensive Assessment System

Early Childhood Educator Qualifications

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

Family Engagement Strategies

Health Promotion Practices

Effective Data Practices

The State has made progress in ensuring that (please check all that apply):

TQRIS Program Standards are measurable

TQRIS Program Standards meaningfully differentiate program quality levels

TQRIS Program Standards reflect high expectations of program excellence commensurate with

✔

✔

✔

✔

nationally recognized standards that lead to improved learning outcomes for children

The TQRIS is linked to the State licensing system for Early Learning and Development Programs.

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Describe progress made during the reporting year in developing or revising a TQRIS that is based on a statewide set of tiered Program Standards. Please describe the State's strategies to ensure that measurable progress will be made in this area by the end of the four-year grant period.

Keystone STARS (STARS) is the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System (TQRIS) in Pennsylvania. STARS has been promoting and supporting Pennsylvania early care and education programs for more than thirteen years. At 14 years old, it is one of the most mature TQRIS systems in the nation. A STARS participating facility can be found in all 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

STARS is currently a four-level block system with standards that address staff qualifications and professional development, the early learning program, partnerships with family and communities, and leadership and management. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) defines “block system” in the following manner: as the STAR levels increase, participating programs are expected to master and maintain compliance with all the standards at the level they are attempting to achieve as well as those of the previous levels.

In Pennsylvania, child care programs must have a Certificate of Compliance issued by OCDEL's Bureau of Certification Services to participate in STARS. Head Start/Early Head Start agencies may not have any deficiencies on their current program monitoring. PA PreK Counts, PDE licensed Private Academic Schools and school district - based classrooms must pass a basic health and safety checklist, referred as the "Pre STARS checklist" before enrolling in Keystone STARS.

As part of the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant, Pennsylvania has proposed two types of revisions to the STARS system. The first is the review of the STARS system to determine if changes should occur to the actual standards themselves: Does Pennsylvania have the correct set of standards to promote positive child outcomes? Does it have too few or too many standards?

Pennsylvania launched the Keystone STARS Revisioning process in February 2016 so that more providers will participate and provide higher quality services to more young children. Pennsylvania has contracted with the renowned consultant group Propulsion Squared to work with OCDEL on the Keystone STARS Revisioning process.

Our charge is to think about the system of early learning in Pennsylvania as a whole, inclusive of its diverse early learning programs and address the question “what is possible, for children, families, and providers?”

A stakeholder engaged plan was intentionally created so stakeholders can participate in the Revisioning process through in-person and virtual events. Regional partners (advocacy organizations, Regional Key, Certification (PA child care licensing), Technical Assistance, Child Care Information Services, Early Intervention) will reach out to providers and others not currently in STARS to encourage them to participate in the system redesign with a special eye to addressing issues of diversity and disproportionality in the current system.

February 2016- the Keystone STARS Think Tank Team initial meeting.

• The Keystone STARS Think Tank is a diverse group of 53 stakeholders chosen by an OCDEL selection team based on rigorous criteria to reflect geographic, racial, gender, and professional diversity. The goal of the two-day work session was to identify and draft the essential elements and core values for a new Keystone STARS framework. The Think Tank reviewed the “why and what of a QRIS” and looked at relevant national and state research to ground their thinking.

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• The Keystone STARS QRIS Revisioning Think Tank Team is charged with engaging a diverse group of early learning stakeholders in the creation of a new conceptual framework for Keystone STARS. This new framework will define the shared core principles of a quality rating and improvement system that is meaningful to and inclusive of all children, families and early learning professionals in Pennsylvania's diverse early learning settings. It is expected the re-visioned performance standards and related program requirements will be embedded in a soft roll out during program year 2017/2018.

Promoting Participation in the TQRIS (Section B(2) of Application) Describe progress made during the reporting year in promoting participation in the TQRIS. Please describe the State's strategies to ensure that measurable progress will be made in this area by the end of the four-year grant period.

STARS is supported by OCDEL and the PA Keys to Quality. PA Keys to Quality includes the PA Key, a contracted agency responsible for the workforce professional development registry and leadership for technical assistance and special initiatives supporting STARS. Five other agencies, the Regional Keys (RK), are responsible for the management of Keystone STARS in their assigned counties. Imbedded in each RK is a staff position known as the RTT-ELC coordinator. On the regional level, the RTT-ELC coordinators support grant activities.

A priority of the RTT-ELC grant is to increase the number of regulated child care providers in rural counties. As reported in the 2012-13 Reach and Risk Report, OCDEL identified 33 counties with few or no child care providers participating in Keystone STARS (STARS). In order to promote recruitment for high-quality programs in the identified counties, the Regional Key (RK) RTT-ELC coordinators are continuously outreaching to their region's local communities and providing information about opportunities to promote the individual's licensing as a child care provider and supports to move up in quality. Financial, professional development and start up technical assistance (TA) peer mentoring supports are available for the identified rural recruitment counties.

Based upon the 2012-13 Reach and Risk Report, the RTT-ELC targeted rural recruitment counties are:

• High-risk rural counties: Bradford, Fayette, Greene, Northumberland, Potter, Warren and

Venango;

• Moderate-high-risk rural counties: Armstrong, Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Clarion,

Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Forest, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson,

Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Perry, Schuylkill, Somerset, Sullivan,

Susquehanna, and Tioga.

By the end of RTT-ELC grant year three, OCDEL has recruited and enrolled approximately 125 STAR 1-4 programs into Keystone STARS in the targeted rural counties.

Approximately 250 potential providers are enrolled in Start Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring to become high-quality child care options. OCDEL and its contractors, the Regional Keys, are confident the potential providers enrolled in Start Up Technical Assistance will successfully receive their Certificate of Compliance from child care licensing and enroll in Keystone STARS to continue their

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journey of quality child care in their area.

OCDEL and its regional contractors have recruited providers in each of the targeted counties except Fulton County. The focus is on additional community and provider outreach in this county. Coined for its heavily forested areas, Forest County is the third least populous county in Pennsylvania.

The Southeast Regional Key (SERK) does not contain moderate-high or high - risk rural recruitment counties. This Key, however, oversees STARS implementation in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties and is focusing assistance to bilingual individuals who aspire to open or already manage a bilingual child care entity in order to grow the overall bilingual high quality child care availability options.

Voices From the Field: A linguistically and culturally Professional Development opportunity for Spanish speaking friend/neighbor providers in Philadelphia.

The Southeast Regional Key (SERK) has recruited 12 Spanish-speaking Philadelphia friend/neighbor providers to participate in a linguistically and culturally responsive professional development course designed to prepare them to own and operate their own family child care home businesses. The course will also assist them with completing and submitting their applications for the City of Philadelphia Family Child Care License and their Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (PA) Family Child Care Home Certificate of Compliance. This lively and engaged group of women committed to attending classes on two full Saturdays per month from April through August 2016.

The cohort has completed the ten-session course on child development, developmentally appropriate settings, pediatric first aid and CPR, and the City of Philadelphia's mandatory Food Safety and Handling class, offered in Spanish by SERK bilingual staff. They also received technical assistance on completing the various applications required to secure their City of Philadelphia Family Child Care License and coaching on both city requirements and state family child care regulations. As of December 2016 all of the providers have received their certificate of compliance as a family child care provider.

The SERK plans to continue to support these newly licensed family child care providers as they begin their journey toward higher quality education through participation in Keystone STARS. We encourage the providers to support each other by maintaining their current connections and engaging in regular community of practice sessions.

Voices From the Field: Family Child Care Home provider reaching for the stars!

Kerry moved to York in February 2016 and became a certified family child care Home provider in May 2016. She has been in the child care field since 2012, previously working for United States Air Forces Families at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. Kerry has successfully completed the Start Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring program to become a Keystone STARS provider.

Kerry's impression of Keystone STARS program is that, “It's a great program! They offer lots of benefits such as tuition reimbursement in order to make the business successful."

Start - Up Peer Mentoring Technical Assistance

In recruiting new providers in moderate-high risk and high-risk counties, it was determined based on stakeholder feedback that potential child care providers would greatly benefit from a STARS peer mentor to aid in the process of licensing regulations, zoning requirements, business practices and STARS performance standards.

The primary focus of start-up TA is targeting potential STARS programs in the identified moderate-high

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or high-risk counties that are transitioning from Friend/Neighbor (FN) to a Family Child Care Home (FCCH) provider as part of the CCDBG reauthorization requirements for FN providers to sustain their subsidy agreement. Efforts are also focused on child care expansion in the targeted RTT-ELC moderate-high or high - risk counties. Third, assistance efforts focus on the expansion of early learning and development programs (ELDP) specified as a targeted expansion program for RTT-ELC efforts. ELDP includes private academic schools (Pennsylvania Department of Education-licensed preschool), school district entities offering preschool and Pre-K Counts standalone sites. Start-up TA may be also applied in non-targeted counties to increase the state's overall high-quality child care options for families.

Potential STARS providers receiving start-up TA has a maximum of 18 months to enroll and designate at least at STAR 1. The goal of TA is to provide resources and personalized services to ELDP as they enter STARS. The scope of TA is all ELDPs not currently designated in STARS. Each RK has hired a startup TA peer mentor coordinator and recruited STAR 2 through STAR 4 peer mentors to aid in the facilitation of start-up TA.

TA peer mentors may be a current director/assistant director or family owner-operator at a STAR 2, 3 or 4 level. Prior to application, the peer mentors must have an adequate professional development (PD) history demonstrating knowledge and experience and have completed their Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) in the PA Key PD Registry, including attainment of credentials specific to their STAR rating. Finally, the peer mentor must have a recommendation from his or her STARS specialist.

A peer mentor's duties are personalized to their mentee and may include assisting in PD Registry support, business practices, child care certification process, zoning in their local community, completing the STARS Enrollment packet, etc., based on the needs identified to ultimately enroll and designate at least at a STAR 1. Peer mentors are matched by “likeness” to their mentee; such as, provider type and proximity to mentee. Peer mentors may support up to six mentees at one time.

In the spring of 2016, OCDEL, PA Key and RK staff convened to develop a peer mentoring database. The peer mentor database was designed to easily capture and track the progress of Start Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring and Rising STARS Peer Mentoring. Rising STARS is a peer mentoring program designed to help providers move up in STAR levels. The peer mentor database currently includes more than 450 mentor-mentee matches.

By using the peer mentor database to capture the progress of mentor-mentee interactions, OCDEL, PA Key staff, Regional Key staff, and peer mentors are able to track progress towards:

• Effective mentoring interactions • Mentoring goals • Effective mentoring resources • Financial invoices • Download and manage reports • Manage peer mentor caseloads

Voices from the Field: Love Out of Tragedy - Jessica

Jessica is a new family provider in Indiana County. Jessica's mother was a family provider for years until tragedy struck their family. Jessica's nephew, who was only an infant at the time, had his life taken by his father while her sister, an active duty Marine, was away on training. Jessica's mother decided she needed time with her family so she made the difficult decision to close her family child care center. Jessica, looking to find any light that dark time, decided to take the reigns of the family

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business. Jessica started a child abuse awareness campaign and opened a facility in her nephew's name.

Emilio's Playhouse was born to give families a safe place for their children while they are at work. Jessica enrolled in Start-Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring and began working very hard in her journey to make Emilio's Playhouse a quality early learning environment. She worked diligently with her mentor, faithfully attended weekly learning community events, and consistently implemented the things she learned in her program.

Within a few months, she completed what was needed to not only become a certified family child care provider but to enroll in Keystone STARS and move to STAR 1. Jessica is still not ready to rest; very soon she will be submitting her request for designation for STAR 2.

Jessica doesn't plan on stopping there; she also plans to enlist the help of Rising STARS tuition assistance to complete her degree in ECE so that she can continue along her pathway to higher quality.

Voices from the Field: Striving Higher and Higher - Peggy of Grammy's Lil Learners

Peggy was a licensed family child care provider for eight years while raising her four children as a single parent. After that period of time, she spent 16 years at Community Action Southwest (CAS) where she worked for Head Start for nine of the 16 years. During Peggy's employment at CAS, she juggled her family, work, and schooling. Peggy attended evening courses to work toward her Associate Degree and five years later was able to earn her diploma.

After earning her associate degree, Peggy spent seven years at CAS working as a Pre-K Counts teacher. During this time, Peggy became interested in the idea of re-opening her own child care facility and began researching what those requirements would be. Six months prior to resigning, Peggy applied for a DHS certificate of registration and added a 16 X 24 foot room to her house for her child care facility.

Peggy currently receives programming support four days during a week, which shows her commitment and dedication to the children she cares for. Grammy's Lil Learners is currently a STAR 2 facility, working toward becoming a STAR 3. Peggy has a STAR 3 pre-designation scheduled and has also signed an agreement to be a Start-Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentor.

In addition to this, Peggy continues to strive for success and has requested the STAR 4 worksheet to continue through the STARS hierarchy. Peggy is most pleased with the success of her child care facility and has shared that she owes some of this success to her Keystone STARS mentor, Patty.

Partnering Together: Child Care Development Block Grant and RTT-ELC

Throughout the spring of 2016, the Bureaus of Early Learning Services, Certification and Subsidy worked in partnership with the Regional Keys (RK), Child Care Information Services (CCIS) and Child Care Certification offices statewide to implement changes as part of the reauthorization of the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG); what it means to Pennsylvania and the process to prepare providers for changes. Friend/Neighbor (FN) providers had to become certified Family Child Care Home providers by November 2016 in order to keep their Child Care Works agreement valid, and care for children who are subsidized. In connection to RTT-ELC Rural Recruitment efforts, a portion of the FN providers reside in targeted Rural Recruitment counties. The FN providers are a new focus of childcare Rural Recruitment for 2016.

Relative/Neighbor (RN) providers, who care for related children who are subsidized, did not become FCCH providers. RN providers and parents who choose RN providers to care for their children had to complete an attestation form declaring the child(ren) are related to the RN providers (relatives are

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defined as grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings over the age of 18, or great-grandparents not living at the same residence).

In order to develop effective messaging for FN providers about the changes, RKs, Child Care Certification and CCIS offices recruited RN providers to participate in CCDBG reauthorization informational focus groups throughout Pennsylvania. The overall initial reaction from the FN provider focus groups was that although they felt a little overwhelmed and nervous, they understood that they would benefit from a helping hand to guide them through the process of child care certification. If the FN provider desires to promote high-quality early learning by enrolling in STARS, Start-Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring can aid in the process of becoming a certified child provider and the STARS enrollment/designation process.

What to expect in an inspection

Statewide, the certification representatives (licensing) staff and Regional Key staff are teaming working together to bring informational “What to Expect When Being Inspected” meetings to potential FCCH providers. In these lively and interactive sessions, certification staff walk through child care licensing regulations, watch a family child care home inspection video and answer any questions potential providers may have. When signing up for this information session, providers are encouraged to enroll in Start-Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring for ongoing individualized assistance. Milestone incentives are awarded to potential providers as they progress through peer mentoring. Examples of milestone incentives are protective child-proofing products such as stove guards and choke tubes, as well as a provider favorite: fire safe file boxes. Once the potential provider successfully completes the peer mentoring program, the provider receive a tablet or basic laptop.

More than 100 FN providers elected to enroll in Start-Up Technical Assistance Peer Mentoring to pursue child care licensing and enrollment in Keystone STARS. The main reason FNs did not pursue licensure is because they were simply helping out a friend or neighbor for the time being and did not want to become a child care business.

Early Learning and Development Programs (ELDP) Expansion

In Year 3 of the RTT-ELC grant, a key focus of Pennsylvania's work was the continued momentum of the Pre-STARS Checklist implementation to enable other early learning and development program types to participate in Keystone STARS without duplication of application and monitoring.

The Pre-STARS Checklist supports additional program type expansion into STARS, including:

• Pre-K Counts; • Early Intervention; • School district and career and technology centers offering preschool; and • PDE licensed private academic nursery schools.

Pre-K Counts, Early Intervention, school districts and career and technology centers offering preschool, and private academic nursery schools are not required to be licensed by DHS to operate an early learning and development program. Historically, STARS builds upon the DHS child care regulations for child care centers, group homes and family child care homes. However, as part of the RTT-ELC work in developing crosswalks and STARS worksheets for non-DHS regulated ELDP, it was recognized that these non-DHS regulated programs may not address similar standards as part of their program requirements. As a result, it was important to establish minimum prerequisite requirements through which to build STARS quality and to prepare ELDP for enrollment into a tiered quality rating

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improvement system.

The Pre-STARS Checklist must be reviewed and verified by the PA Key preschool specialists prior to STARS enrollment and before pre-designation can take place. The Pre-STARS Checklist is used in conjunction with corresponding cross walked worksheets for each type of ELDP such as Pre-K Counts, PDE licensed private academic nursery schools and school district entities offering prekindergarten. The checklist is the starting point to entering STARS. ELDP must fully implement the guidelines in the Pre-STARS Checklist prior to enrollment in STARS.

As part of the ELDP recruitment process, the PA Key preschool specialists and the Regional Keys communicate regarding the identification of potential ELDP interested in joining Keystone STARS. For all non-DHS Regulated ELDP types, the PA Key preschool specialist has the ELDP authorized program official complete the checklist and the preschool specialist verifies Pre-STARS checklist compliance and notes, in the observation section of the checklist, any observations for follow-up or provides verification the checklist has been implemented by the program.

The Regional Key proceeds with next steps by contacting the ELDP and beginning the enrollment process. In 2016, all expansion worksheets have been released and approximately 20 Pre-K Counts providers have designated at a STAR 3 or 4 level.

The hierarchy determination document was approved by the leadership of the Bureau of Early Learning Services, the PA Key, and Regional Keys. The most rigorous worksheets are used in the designation process for a program that contains multiple program types residing under one location.

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Performance Measure (B)(2)(c) In the table, provide data on the numbers and percentages of Early Learning and Development Programs that are participating in the State's TQRIS by type of Early Learning and Development Program. Targets must be consistent with those in the State's application unless a change has been approved.

Performance Measure (B)(2)(c): Increasing the number and percentage of Early Learning and Development Programs participating in the statewide TQRIS.

Targets: Number and percentage of Early Learning and Development Programs in the TQRIS

Type of Early Learning and Development Program in the State

Baseline Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four

# % # % # % # % # %

State-funded preschool 221 48.1% 275 60% 309 85% 459 100% 459 100%

Early Head Start and Head Start1

80 12% 145 21% 290 42% 384 56% 452 66%

Programs funded by IDEA, Part C 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Programs funded by IDEA, Part B, section 619

0 0% 0 0% 34 100% 34 100% 34 100%

Programs funded under Title I of ESEA 0 0% 0 0% 3 8% 6 16% 9 25%

Programs receiving CCDF funds 3,675 15% 8,382 35% 9,577 40% 16,162 68% 23,943 100%

Other 1 3,905 47%

Describe: Keystone STARS (CCDF-Funded Program)

Other 2 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Describe: Healthy Families America

Other 3 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Describe: Nurse-Family Partnership

1 Including Migrant and Tribal Head Start located in the State.

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Performance Measure (B)(2)(c) - Additional Other rows

Targets: Number and percentage of Early Learning and Development Programs in the TQRIS Baseline Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four

Type of Early Learning and Development Program in the State

# % # % # % # % # %

Other 4 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Describe: Parent-Child Home Program

Other 5 0 0% 26 5% 47 9% 63 12% 80 15%

Describe: Private Academic Licensed Nursery Schools

Other 6 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Describe: Parents as Teachers

Other 7

Describe:

Other 8

Describe:

Other 9

Describe:

Other 10

Describe:

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Performance Measure (B)(2)(c): Increasing the number and percentage of Early Learning and Development Programs participating in the statewide TQRIS.

Actuals: Number and percentage of Early Learning and Development Programs in the TQRIS

Type of Early Learning and Development Program in the State

Baseline Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four

# of programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# %

State-funded preschool 459 221 48.1% 514 260 51% 508 264 52% 694 387 56%

Specify: Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts

Early Head Start and Head Start1

686 80 12% 764 232 30% 819 312 38.1% 920 363 39.5%

Programs funded by IDEA, Part C 48 0 0% 48 0 0% 48 0 0% 48 0 0%

Programs funded by IDEA, Part B, section 619 34 0 0% 34 0 0% 34 0 0% 34 0 0%

Programs funded under Title I of ESEA 36 0 0% 36 0 0%

Programs receiving CCDF funds 23,943 3,675 15% 19,348 3,767 19.5% 15,065 3,905 25.9% 14,080 3,345 23.8%

Other 1 8,382 3,905 47% 8,106 3,824 47.2% 7,918 3,813 48.3% 7,581 3,692 48.7%

Describe: Keystone STARS (CCDF-Funded Program)

Other 2 2 0 0% 2 0 0% 2 0 0% 3 0 0%

Describe: Healthy Families America

Other 3 22 0 0% 22 0 0% 22 0 0% 22 0 0%

Describe: Nurse-Family Partnership 1 Including Migrant and Tribal Head Start located in the State.

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Performance Measure (B)(2)(c) - Additional Other rows

Actuals: Number and percentage of Early Learning and Development Programs in the TQRIS

Type of Early Learning and Development Program in the State

Baseline Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four

# of programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# % # of

programs in the State

# %

Other 4 3 0 0% 3 0 0% 3 0 0% 3 0 0%

Describe: Parent-Child Home Program

Other 5 533 0 0% 474 0 0%

Describe: Private Academic Licensed Nursery Schools

Other 6 37 0 0% 43 0 0% 11 0 0% 65 0 0%

Describe: Parents as Teachers

Other 7

Describe:

Other 8

Describe:

Other 9

Describe:

Other 10

Describe:

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Performance Measure (B)(2)(c) Data Notes Indicate if baseline data are actual or estimated; describe the methodology used to collect the data, including any error or data quality information; and please include any definitions you used that are not defined in the notice. State-funded preschool: Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Early Head Start and Head Start: Home-based only sites not included Programs funded by IDEA, Part B, Section 619 reflects number of local Preschool Early Intervention programs that OCDEL contracts with to provide EI services. Programs funded under Title I of ESEA: data not available Programs receiving from CCDF funds: Child Care Works; the number of programs in the State includes all regulated and unregulated providers that had a Child Care Works subsidy enrollment on November 30, 2016. The baseline includes the actual subset of regulated providers that also participated in Keystone STARS on March 31, 2013. Keystone STARS: The number of programs in the State includes all regulated providers on December 31, 2016. The baseline is an actual count of regulated providers participating in the Keystone STARS program on June 30, 2013. The targets for Private Academic Licensed Nursery Schools are low as they traditionally do not serve children with High Needs.

Performance Measure (B)(2)(c) Target Notes For all targets that were not reached in the reporting year, please describe the State's strategies to ensure that measurable progress will be made in reaching the established grant targets by the end of the grant period.

In year two of the grant, Pennsylvania completed a research based inquiry of Keystone STARS, the commonwealth's quality rating and improvement system. The Keystone STARS inquiry completion was delayed 6 months, impacting decisions around streamlining and reducing burden in the system. While recruitment activities for child care providers continued to occur into the existing system, major changes to the STARS standards and recruitment of new provider types into the system did not occur. The inquiry results were finalized in November 2015 and are being used to guide changes to Keystone STARS for the second half of year three through the revised Keystone STARS performance indicators.

A goal of the Keystone STARS Revisioning process is that the revised performance indicators launching in year four of the RTT-ELC grant engages additional providers from all types of Early Learning and Development programs to reach RTT-ELC t